You’re at 35,000 feet. You’ve paid a small fortune for Wi-Fi. You’re mid-purchase, mid-movie or mid-message and connectivity fails. You’ve hit one of those black spots or drop out zones. Or just too many passengers are sharing the bandwidth at the same time. It’s the kind of experience that drives thousands of frustrated travellers to vent on social media every week. You want your money back. But worse than that, your brand relationship is damaged – possibly for good.

There’s little doubt inflight broadband is a bonus for passengers, and a platform for airlines to build service innovations that don’t just unlock new ancillaries, but a whole new ecosystem of revenue streams. However, if the service isn’t up to the promise, there’s a real danger that investment is wasted and may even backfire on the brand.

All of which could explain why the inflight connectivity market has been buffering for years, and why most airlines have been reluctant to explore fully the opportunities it brings. Faced with unreliable, inconsistent broadband service, many carriers have lacked the confidence to go all in. But the growing demand of passengers, and the lure of incremental returns, means Wi-Fi is no longer a nice-to-have. So what kind of Wi-Fi is required?

Matching demand as it rises

Reliability and quality of service are key. Inmarsat’s GX Aviation delivers uninterrupted, high-speed Wi-Fi worldwide, powered by Global Xpress, the world’s first global Ka-band satellite network, and the only network built specifically to address global mobility. It’s the product of a network strategy engineered to meet the needs of aviation, ensuring consistent coverage and capacity today, and a commitment to match demand as it rises.

Global Xpress’ three HTS satellites, with a fourth as ‘in orbit’ back up, cover the globe with a seamless layer of high speed capacity, exceeding the requirements of any known aviation customer. But airline demand is never spread evenly.